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UNVEILING 

of 

Memorial Tablet 

to 

DANIEL BISSELL 

The Patriot Spy of the Revolution 

at 

Windsor, Conn., October 18, 1919 



Under the Auspices of 
Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth Branch 
Connecticut Society 
Sons of the American Revolution . Co'nTve'^^ r- '-'- '- £i 



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PROGRAMME 



Invocation 

by the Chaplain 



HYMN 
America 



UNVEILING OF MEMORIAL 

By 

Master John Bissell Carroll 

A descendant in the tenth generation from John Bissell, the 

founder of the family in America 



PRESENTATION OF MEMORIAL TO THE 

CHAPTER 

Chairman of Memorial Committee 

F. Clarence Bissell 



RECEPTION OF MEMORIAL BY THE CHAPTER 

and presentation to Conn. Society, S. A. R. 

By 

* John M. Parker, Jr., President 

Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth Chapter 



RECEPTION OF MEMORIAL BY 

CONN. SOCIETY, S. A. R. 

By 

Dr. George C. F. Williams, President 

of Connecticut Society 



Address by 
Prof. Edward F. Humphrey, Ph. D. 

of Trinity College 
a member of Conn. Society, S. A. R. 



MUSIC 
The Star Spangled Banner 



Benediction 

by the Chaplain 



*In the absence of the President, his 
place was taken by George S. Godard, 
Vice-President. 



Sergeant Daniel Bissell, Exponent of 
Real- American ism. 

An address delivered by Edward 
Frank Humphrey at the Unveiling of 
a Memorial Tablet to Daniel Bissell, 
The Patriotic Spy of the Revolution 
at Windsor, Connecticut, October 18, 
1919, under the auspices of Colonel 
Jeremiah Wadsworth Branch, Sons 
of the American Revolution. 

Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth 
Branch, Sons of the American Revolu- 
tion, and friends are gathered here 
today to dedicate another shrine to 
Americanism, an Americanism, in this 
instance, expressed not in words but 
in a life of complete devotion to our 
country's service, first as Patriot 
throughout the War of the Revolu- 
tion, and then as Pioneer, winning 
new lands from the wilderness to add 
to America's greatness. 

There are within our borders today 
those abstract theorists who hold that 
the sole test of Americanism is "Cul- 
ture"; others claim that ability to 
speak the English language is the 
criterion of nationality; while an ex- 
treme school contends that America is 
not yet and must never be allowed 
to become a nation. Israel Zangwill, 
who long since gave us the false 
analogy of "America, the Melting- 
Pot," in his latest work on the sub- 
ject defines nationality as a "State 
of Mind." The Yale Review very apt- 
ly remarks, "His little book on na- 
tionalities . . is likely to impress 
many readers as the idle vaporings of 
a man without a country. 

The examples of our Revolutionary 
heroes; Nathan Hale, George Wash- 
ington, Colonel Knowlton, Daniel Bis- 
sell, and their compatriots have long 
since taught us that Nationalism is 
neither physical nor mental. It can- 
not be put off or on at will. It is 
a moral and spiritual force. It de- 
fies definition even though it is so 
intimate that it cannot be denied or 
betrayed without a feeling of shame. 
It is as intense as religion and like 
religion it has its Saints, Shrines, and 
Martyrs. 



The man whose heart does not ex- 
pand, who does not experience a spir- 
itual uplift before the altars of na- 
tionalism is dead to some of the nob- 
lest emotions of the human brest. 
Concord Bridge, The Lake of the Four 
Cantons, Vimy Ridge, and this monu- 
ment to Sergeant Daniel Bissell are 
but outward and visible signs of the 
spiritual grace of nationalism. 

We are here to assist in perpetuat- 
ing through this imperishable altar 
of granite and bronze the memory of 
the supreme patriotism of a son of 
Ancient Windsor, Daniel Bissell, Pa- 
triot Spy of the Revolutionary War. 
Another son of Ancient Windsor, 
Stiles the historian, has said, "If hon- 
or and gratitude are due to him who 
boldly maintains a just cause by force 
of arms and personal bravery, how 
much more is it due to him, who, re- 
nouncing glory's brightest dream, 
takes upon himself the unenviable 
character and office of a spy in his 
country's service. . . Such was Hale 
whose martyr memory is precious to 
every patriots heart; such, too, . . . 
was Daniel Bissell of Windsor." 

The services of Daniel Bissell were 
such as to earn for him the Honorary 
Badge of Military Merit, accompanied 
by an Honorary Certificate signed by 
General Washington Tiimself wherein 
the following note is made of his 
special "^vvice to America: "Whereas 
Serger Daniel Bissell of the Sec- 
ond Connecticut Regiment has per- 
formed some important service, with- 
in the immediate knowledge of the 
Commander-in-Chief, in which his fi- 
delity, perserverance and good sense, 
were not only conspicuously manifest- 
ed, but his general line of conduct 
throughout a long course of seiwice, 
having been not only unspotted but 
highly deserving of commendation. 

Now, therefore. Know Ye, that the 
aforesaid Sergeant Bissell, hath fully 
and truly deserved, and hath been 
properly invested with, the Honorary 
Badge of Militaiy Merit, and is en- 
titled to pass and repass all Guards 
and Military Posts, as freely and as 
amply as any Commissioned Officer 



whatever; and is further recommend- 
ed to that notice which a Brave and 
Faithful Soldier deserves from his 
countrymen." 

This certificate from the hands of 
General Washington himself furnish- 
es the clue to the importance of the 
work assigned to Sergeant Bissell. 
Washington realized the extreme im- 
portance of the service of military-in- 
telligence. IHe would entrust it to 
none but his most intimate personal 
associates; he kept personal control 
of everything connected with the spy- 
system. So much import was attach- 
ed to absolute secrecy that we find 
his own letters have very carefully 
eliminated even the names of his most 
trusted sources of information. He 
even caused false papers, charges of 
"Desertion to the Enemy'' to be reg- 
istered against some of his most 
trusted men. Such a charge we find 
entered against Sergeant Bissell. 
Fortunately in his case it is easy to 
disprove this charge. In many other 
cases it is not so easy, historical evi- 
dence would discredit some of those 
very men upon whom Washington 
placed most reliance. If Washington 
did use the system of "Double-Spies" 
(Spies working for both sides), we 
do know that his system worked in 
1781 when it was subjected to the 
final test. Washington secured com- 
plete and exact information of all 
the plans of General Clinton whilst 
at the same time he was able to de- 
ceive Gen. Clinton as to the plans of 
the Franco-American forces. This 
was the test of the service of 1781 
which earned for Daniel Bissell an 
Honorary Badge of Military Merit. 

The year 1781 was the critical year 
of the American Revolution. The 
Patriots had fought for six years and 
success still seemed as distant as in 
the dark days of Valley Forge. The 
Morale, the spiritual force, of America 
was drooping. Recruiting was at a 
stand-still and money was unobtain- 
able. When Washington had started 
for his Connecticut Conference with 
Rochambeau in 1780, all the money 
he could get together was $8,000 in 



paper currency and more than half of 
this had been expended before he had 
crossed New York state. Had not 
Governor Trumbull extended to him 
the hospitality of the state, the Am- 
erican delegation would have arrived 
at the Allied Conference in the con- 
dition of bankruptcy. Arnold's trea- 
son reflected the morale of many pa- 
triots and suspicion and rumor were 
rife that others and men higher-up 
were disaffected. 

The American cause was at its most 
cribical stage and the Allied Command 
decided here, as they were to again 
in the crisis of 1918, to stake the out- 
come one a great campaign, York- 
town. This was to be vastly more 
complicated than any so far under- 
taken; the possibilities of a miscar- 
riage of the plans were innumerable. 
The campaign required the oom- 
pletest liason between all branches of 
the service. Also it required the 
completest information regarding the 
plans of the enemy and absolute sec- 
recy as to the American objectives. 

On July 28th, 1781, De Grasse, Com- 
mander of the French Fleet which had 
but just arrived in American waters, 
sent word to the Allied Command that 
he favored an attack on Cornwalls 
since it promised an easier and surer 
success than the New York campaign 
which was at a stand-still. This 
V/ashington and Rochambeau took 
under advisement. On August 17th 
they sent word to De Grasse that 
they had decided to move the Amer- 
ican and French armies to the Chese- 
peake. 

iBut a great deal had been done in 
those twenty days. Word was not 
sent, even to De Grasse, until the 
armies were already under way. In 
the interval on August 13th Washing- 
ton had selected Daniel Bissell for a 
perilous mission into New York City 
for the double purpose of securing in- 
formation relative to the enemy and 
of spreading false propoganda rela- 
tive to the American plans. We do 
not possess the instructions which 
Colonel Humphreys, acting for Gener- 
al Washington, placed in the hands 



of Sergeant BIssell, yet it requires 
no great amount of historical immag- 
ination to reconstruct them. A rum- 
or was afloat that Clinton intended 
to evacuate New York and transfer 
his forces to the South. Sergeant Bis- 
sell was to learn the numbers, dis- 
position and plans of the enemy. 
More important was the information 
which Sergeant Bissell was to con- 
vey to the British, in his character 
as a "Deserter from the American 
Army." In his own account of the 
instructions which he received Ser- 
geant Bissell uses this significant sen- 
tence, "Then followed all the prob- 
able questions that would be asked 
me. In the several examinations, to 
gether with their answers." 

General Clinton was completely 
misled. He learned that De Grasse 
was coming but he was led to believe 
that this new French fleet would join 
the old one at Rhode Island. Then 
too, although the Patriot forces began 
to draw off toward New Jersey on 
August 17th and were all in motion 
by the 24th, Clinton was kept In ab- 
solute ignorance of their objective un- 
til September 2nd. A very clever 
report spread through the City of 
New York that Colonel John Laurens 
had just returned from Paris with the 
news that the Emperor of Germany 
had declared himself the ally of Great 
Britain and that, in consequence, 
France was withdrawing her fleet and 
troops to concentrate them in the 
West Indies. So cleverly was this 
story concocted and so skillfully was 
it introduced into New York that even 
Rivington's loyalist Gazette accepted 
It as true and published it in all ser- 
iousness, rejoicing in the good news. 
Such was the propoganda which must 
have been included in the Instructions 
to Sergeant Bissell. 

'Sergeant Bissell, "deserter from the 
American Army," succeeded In enter- 
ing New York and remaining at liber- 
ty for three days, at the end of which 
time he enrolled in Arnold's regiment. 



When, at length, General Clinton 
learned of the Allied objective he 
tried to draw off the New England 
forces by Arnold's expedition against 
New London on September 6th. Ser- 
geant Bissell knew of the plans for 
this raid but he was already so far 
advanced with the fever that he could 
not make his escape. Taken ill, he 
was sent to the hospital at Flushing 
where he was kept until December 
then to be removed to Harlem 
Heights. He remained in the hospital 
until May when he was taken out and 
assigned to Quarter-Master Sergeant's 
duties. Here he was able to learn 
considerable of the plans of the Brit- 
ish and in September he escaped to 
the American lines; there to resume 
his place in the ranks and to serve 
out the remainder of the war. 

Such was the Revolutionary record 
of Daniel Bissell. Yet in dedicating 
this monument here in Ancient Wind- 
sor I would, in closing, call attention 
to the After-War record of Daniel Bis- 
sell. I would add to his service rec- 
ord the rank of "Pioneer." Returning 
to Windsor at the close of the war in 
1783 he remained there only until 
1790 when he. with the wife married 
in 1789, joined that great army of 
pioneers who moved forward to con- 
quer for America an empire In the 
wilderness. I cannot agree with the 
historian Stiles that "His naturally 
fine constitution never recovered from 
the privations and sufferings to which 
he was exposed during his service as 
a spy within the British lines at New 
York. . . and tended much to cripple 
his energies and to thwart the suc- 
cess which those energies would oth- 
erwise have accomplised. "What 
greater success could a Patriot of the 
Revolution than to do his part In win- 
ing this new empire for his country 
and to leave therein a large family 
to assume responsible positions. 

Such, in brief, was the spirit of Dan- 
iel Bissell, a Patriot and Pioneer, and 
true exponent of Americanism. 




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